To all my librarian friends, champions of books, true magicians in the House of Life.
Without you, this writer would be lost in the Dust.
- Rick Riordan.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Discovery of Brain-membrane Immune Cell May Advance MS Treatment Work:
December 20, 2016
by
The
discovery of a new type of immune cell in the membranes covering the brain is
likely to advance understanding of the immune system’s impact on the brain, a
study says. It could also lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS)
and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Researchers
knew the immune cell existed in organs that create barriers between our body
and the outside world, such as the skin, gut, and lungs. The cells’ discovery
in the brain is not only surprising, but also suggests the cells may play a
role in communications between the microbes that inhabit other parts of our
bodies and the brain.
The
study, “Characterization of meningeal type 2 innate lymphocytes and their
response to CNS injury,” was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
It is
the second time in a year that the research team at the University of Virginia
(UVA) School of Medicine has stepped into the spotlight. Last year, they
discovered that the brain is lined with lymph vessels that scientists did not
think existed there. The finding suggested that lymph vessels were a route for
immune cells to move into the brain.
As the
researchers did additional lymph-vessel studies, they discovered a new type of
cell known as a type 2 innate lymphocyte. The cells were not in the lymph
vessels, as one might imagine, but on the outside, surrounding the vessels.
In
mouse experiments, the team found that the cells become activated after a
spinal cord injury. When they added the cells to the brains of mice which
lacked a factor crucial to the cells’ activation, they noticed improvement in
recovery from a spinal-cord injury.
“This
all comes down to immune system and brain interaction,” Jonathan Kipnis,
chairman of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience and director of its Center for
Brain Immunology and Glia, said in a press release.
“The
two were believed to be completely not communicating, but now we’re slowly,
slowly filling in this puzzle,” added Kipnis, the study’s senior investigator.
“Not only are these [immune] cells present in the areas near the brain, they
are integral to its function. When the brain is injured, when the spinal cord
is injured, without them, the recovery is much, much worse.”
The
team believes the cells do a lot more than just aiding in spinal-cord repair.
Since the same type of cell is also found in the gut, they think the cells
could be crucial to gut-brain communication. Several other studies have noted
the importance of gut microbes to brain health.
“These
cells are potentially the mediator between the gut and the brain,” Kipnis said.
“They are the main responder to microbiota changes in the gut. They may go from
the gut to the brain, or they may just produce something that will impact those
cells. But you see them in the gut and now you see them also in the brain.”
He added:
“We know the brain responds to things happening in the gut. Is it logical that
these will be the cells that connect the two? Potentially. We don’t know that,
but it very well could be.”
Although
a lot more research needs to be done to understand what the cells do in the
meninges, or brain membranes, the team is convinced they are involved in a
range of neurological conditions.
“The
long-term goal of this would be developing drugs for targeting these cells,”
said Sachin Gadani, lead author of the study. “I think it could be highly
efficacious in migraine, multiple sclerosis and possibly other conditions.”
In
support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:
Never
give up!
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Hope Lights the Way to a Cure for MS:
December 16, 2016
by
In A Life in Letters – A Column By Jamie
Hughes
“This
first candle in the advent wreath,” I told my kids as I clicked the lighter and
set its flame atop the wick, “represents hope. What does that word mean to you
guys?”
In the
warm glow of the purple taper, we talked about everything from wishes and
Christmas presents to the thornier topics of politics and peace. And while it
wasn’t a perfect discussion, I think it accomplished the spiritual goal of the
ceremony—to get us all thinking about the future.
If
you’ve never used an advent wreath to mark the weeks leading up to Christmas, I
highly recommend doing so. It is a rich and interesting practice begun by
Martin Luther and observed by many Christians. In brief, it works like this:
Each of the four Sundays before December 25, you light a candle and reflect on
what it represents through responsive readings, songs and prayers. The first
week is focused on hope, the second on peace, the third, joy, and the fourth,
love. The color of these candles varies depending on denominational traditions,
but most use three purple candles and one pink to correspond to the colors of
the garments worn by pastors during each Sunday’s service. Also, many wreaths
have a fifth candle in the center, a white one, which represent Jesus Christ.
That one is lit on Christmas Eve.
Rather
than allow this holy season to be hijacked and turned into a glitter-drenched
nuisance to be endured rather than enjoyed, traditions like the advent wreath
help us remember that we can wait in a sense of anticipation and expectation
for the better day that is to come. It reminds us of the reason for our hope.
And, as Andy Dufresne says in the film The
Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of
things, and no good thing ever dies.”
After
the kids had gone outside to finish their Sunday playing in leaf piles, and my
husband had planted himself on the couch to watch the Atlanta Falcons trounce
the Arizona Cardinals, I sat drinking coffee and watching that single candle
flicker as it slowly grew dark in my cozy kitchen. I thought about hope—where
it comes from and what purpose it serves—and what it means to live the tension
of what many Christian thinkers refer to as the “already, but not yet.”
I also
considered hope in light of MS and the many changes it has produced in my life
and realized that rather than snuff-out my faith, the disease has actually
strengthened it.
MS is
no longer a death sentence, no longer a reason to give up on life. Sure, there
are challenges, and each of us walks a different path on the journey to healing
and wholeness. But there is more positive news coming out than ever before. I
don’t know about you, but I can’t keep up with all the new treatment options
doctors are discovering. (There are so many that entire columns on this website
are devoted to covering them!) Patients are living fuller lives thanks to
therapies and medical assistive devices. Celebrities and “average” folks
(though I use that term loosely) are having honest conversations about multiple
sclerosis and helping one another by sharing their struggles.
This is
no longer a malady that is spoken of in whispers or admitted to in shame. Call
me naïve, but I firmly believe a cure for the damnable disease we all know and
hate will be found in my lifetime.
Yes,
even in the darkest times, there is cause for hope.
In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:
Never
give up!
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